Patrick Lafuma: Merck lately made investors blissful. Right now, Merck is within the lead, reporting constructive part three data from its oral COVID therapy on Friday. And Pfizer will take some market share as effectively if its oral remedy is approved. Merck is a $200 billion company, and Pfizer is a $240 billion pharmaceutical giant. Atea is a small company with a $3 billion market cap. A couple of weeks ago, the Biden administration paid $2.9 billion to Regeneron NASDAQ: REGN to acquire 1.4 million doses of its antibody therapy, REGEN-COV. And even vaccinated people may catch a mutating pressure of the virus. And even then, the impact is small; restoration is shortened by a couple of days. Prof Peter Horby, the co-chief of the groundbreaking Restoration trial of Covid therapies on the College of Oxford, stated the decision by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Company MHRA was very welcome. It amounted to a watershed moment in tackling the pandemic.
To spice up the availability of molnupiravir in decrease-income nations, Merck has partnered with several Indian generics makers and just lately entered a voluntary licensing settlement with the Medicines Patent Pool MPP to provide inexpensive worldwide entry to the remedy. The therapy is obtainable below totally different names and distributed by several retailers. The upside is giant for a small-cap with a COVID therapy. These pills are a giant market alternative. That early mover advantage has helped the stock outperform the broader market on a trailing return foundation for years. And what’s thrilling Mr. Market is that this is an oral remedy. Atea’s treatment would possibly save some lives, though. A sizable quantity of individuals have not been vaccinated and would possibly by no means vaccinate.
And it truly may be a sizable market, as governments around the world want to stockpile treatments ahead of time. So there’s still a market for COVID remedies. We’re nonetheless waiting for data from Atea’s pivotal trial. Remdesivir, which, like molnupiravir, is an antiviral drug, is administered by injection. Like different antivirals resembling Tamiflu for influenza, the sooner you begin taking them, the simpler they will stop you from getting critically ill. The tech large has lifted its payout yearly for greater than a decade and at a fast fee as well. Results from their clinical trials are anticipated inside the following few months. buy molnupiravir We’ll find out in a few months. The UK recorded 41,242 Covid cases on Thursday and 214 passings inside 28 days of a positive check.